Philips’ Hue Go promises a portable bowl of light, and it delivers

With summer rapidly approaching, Philips is introducing a new mood lamp that will work inside and out. The Hue Go is a semi-spherical bowl of colorful light that features a battery to make it portable around a home. You can connect it to the supplied cord or use the light for around three hours before it will need charging again. This makes it perfect for use outside in the garden during the summer when it’s getting dark, or as a portable lamp to position in multiple rooms without the hassle of wires.

I’ve been testing one in my home over the last couple of days, and found it just as easy to use as the rest of the Hue range. If you’ve already got a Hue Bridge then it’s just a matter of plugging the Hue Go in and hitting the Hue Bridge button to sync it. You can then take the cord out and use the Hue Go wirelessly around your house. Range doesn’t seem to be too much of an issue, and I’ve managed to control the lamp from an iOS or Android phone in all of the rooms in my apartment. It’s particularly useful at light in a corner of a room, and while it won’t fully light up an entire room it does provide a pretty glow that will extend across any reasonably sized room.

It's a pretty cereal bowl with 16 million colors

Just like any Hue lights, there are 16 million color choices and a variety of presets (scenes) to choose from. You can also setup alarms and timing for the lamp to turn on, location-based activation, or use a variety of third-party apps to make the Go even smarter. It looks just like a cereal bowl, and there’s a handy stand at the rear so it sits up, or you can lay it on a table facing up. The Hue Go is made out of translucent plastic, so when you change colors it really beams through well without any color loss. There's even a button at the back so you can cycle through a number of preset colors without the need for a phone.

The main drawback here is that the Hue Go is really designed for those who already have a Hue lighting system. At $99.95 (£79.99 in the UK) it’s reasonable for just the lamp, but Philips hasn’t included the essential Hue Bridge in the box, so you’ll need to purchase a starter kit separately (starting from $79.95 / £79.99). The Philips Hue Go will go on sale at Apple Stores, Amazon, and Best Buy in late May or early June for $99.95.